Differentiating Heavy from Light Drinkers by Neural Responses to Visual Alcohol Cues and Other Motivational Stimuli
Differentiating Heavy from Light Drinkers by Neural Responses to Visual Alcohol Cues and Other Motivational Stimuli
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DOI：
10.1093/cercor/bhq220
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发表时间：
2011-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Linden, David E. J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ihssen, Niklas;Cox, W. Miles;Linden, David E. J.
酒精依赖的过程通常始于临床前期的大量饮酒。本文报道的功能磁共振成像数据表明，即使是这种饮酒模式也与对酒精和其他刺激的适应不良神经反应有关。当参与者面对与酒精相关的视觉线索时，酗酒者在特定情绪区域（岛叶皮层）和大脑奖励回路（腹侧纹状体）部分表现出放大的血氧水平依赖性信号反应。这种神经元放大现象在少量饮酒者中不存在。至关重要的是，与此同时，酗酒者的额叶区域对与更高阶生活目标相关的图片的反应减弱，扣带皮层对食欲食物刺激的反应减弱，这表明他们很难找到替代的、社会上理想的目标。通过判别函数分析，我们证明，将与酒精相关的过度激活和激活不足与替代目标相结合，可以高精度地区分重度饮酒者和轻度饮酒者。我们的研究结果强调了线索反应性功能性大脑图谱的诊断价值。影像学检查可能有助于在临床前阶段识别成瘾倾向，并阐明酒精依赖发展和维持的机制。
The course to alcohol dependence often starts with a preclinical period of heavy drinking. The present article reports functional magnetic resonance imaging data showing that even this pattern of alcohol consumption is associated with maladaptive neural responses to alcohol and other stimuli. When participants were confronted with visual cues related to alcohol, heavy drinkers showed amplified blood oxygen level-dependent signal responses in specific emotional areas (insular cortex) and in parts of the brain's reward circuitry (ventral striatum). This neuronal amplification was not present in light drinkers. Crucially, at the same time heavy drinkers showed reduced responses in frontal areas to pictures related to higher order life goals and in the cingulate cortex to appetitive food stimuli, suggesting that they have difficulty finding alternative, socially desirable goals. Using discriminant function analysis, we demonstrate that the combination of alcohol-related overactivation and underactivation to alternative goals allows heavy and light drinkers to be differentiated with a high degree of precision. Our findings highlight the diagnostic value of functional brain mapping of cue reactivity. Imaging measures may help to identify addictive dispositions in preclinical stages and to clarify the mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence.